Page 79 of It's a Date (Again)

Maya presses her lips together, moving them side to side. “Sounds like he’s not entirely invested. You should probably cut him.”

“Maya! I’m not eliminating him because he had a family emergency.”

Robbie pulls the ice pack from his knuckles and clenches and unclenches his fist. He tosses me a grateful smile before swigging his beer.

“Don’t listen to Maya. She’d be single if it wasn’t for me.” Anthony snickers.

Maya pokes him in the side. He squirms in his chair, leaning away from her. The two laugh and playfully tickle one another. Finally, he grabs her hand and holds it while she rests her head against his shoulder, beaming up at him. Robbie was right. They are really cute together. What they have is what I want, and I hope I find it.

“What about the other two guys?” Anthony asks.

“I had a great time with both of them. They’re very different from one another. Tyler’s more outgoing, but he’s playful and we have great chemistry.”

Robbie gets up from his seat and says he’ll grab us another round. He moseys over to the bar, flagging down the woman working it.

“You were saying.” Anthony gestures to me.

I refocus my attention on Maya and Anthony. “Yeah, where was I? Oh yeah, the guys. Nash is really sweet, and he’s an incredible cook. He’s a little shy, but I got to see another side of him on our date when we were cooking at his restaurant.”

“Sounds like you got some good ones to choose from.” He nods.

My eyes land back on Robbie. He’s leaned over the bar, chatting with the pretty bartender. She tosses her head back and laughs.

“Yeah, I guess I do,” I say.

CHAPTER15

Stacked across my arms are two bouquets of colorful flowers and a large cake from a local bakery. A reusable bag full of groceries hangs from one shoulder, tapping into my side as we walk.

“Are you sure you got all that?” Debbie glances over her shoulder at me.

“Yep,” I say, stumbling behind her.

Debbie has her hands full with several bags of the heavier stuff like bottles of wine, which she said she wanted to stock up on. She’s far stronger than she looks.

“Thanks for helping me run these errands,” she says.

“What’s all this for anyway?”

Debbie pushes the crosswalk signal. It beeps, and we stand at the corner waiting to cross the street. We’re just two blocks from home.

She stares at the light, waiting for it to change. “Retirement party for a friend of mine.”

“Oh, that’s nice of you. Is it someone you worked with at the hospital?”

“Yeah,” she says. As soon as the light turns, she starts off across the street. “Did that boy ever reschedule another date with you?”

“Not yet, but he checked in and said all is well with his family emergency now.”

Debbie glances back at me. “Did he say what happened?”

“No, and I didn’t ask. I figured maybe it was personal, and if he wanted to tell me, he would.”

She turns left on our street and tosses a sympathetic glance over her shoulder. “What about the other two? Do you feel stronger about one over the other?”

“I don’t know, maybe, but I’m trying to be sure I make the right choice ... and by that I mean whichever one I was dead set on before the accident.”

She purses her lips together. “Don’t overthink it. You’re following your heart, not solving a math equation.”

---